When one sees the word “unambiguously” used in a carefully researched academic paper, it’s time to take notice. For example, a recent Journal of Policy Modeling study reports results that are “…unambiguously suggestive of a crop insurance policy regime that is biased in the direction of increasing consolidation in crop farming….” That conclusion is based on… Read More →
Dec. 11: An LSP Round-up of News Covering Land, People & Communities Dean Foods Seeks to Get Back Money Paid to Dairy Farmers Before Bankruptcy (12/10/20) Hundreds of dairy farmers nationwide fear they could owe substantial sums to the bankrupt dairy processor Dean Foods after the company sent out letters attempting to claw back payments… Read More →
Meeting Takes Place at Twin Cities Area Incubator Farm MARINE ON ST. CROIX, Minn. — During a walking tour of an incubator farm Sunday, farmer-leaders relayed to Minnesota U.S. Senator Tina Smith the importance of creating and supporting food and farm policy that prioritizes people and public investment in the health and wellbeing of communities… Read More →
A Pioneering Organic Operation, a Trial Run, & the Next Generation Black, ominous clouds were approaching fast, and Luke Peterson was in a bit of a panic as he stood next to his tractor parked in an 80-acre soybean field, scanning the sky. Hooked up to that tractor was a rotary hoe, and before this… Read More →
A BioBlitz Highlights the Role Livestock Farmers Can Play in Habitat Improvement It’s the kind of overcast day in June that leaves one wondering if the sun decided to take an extended summer holiday. But as heavy thunderstorms threaten this part of Big Stone County in western Minnesota, some 130-people break up into teams and… Read More →
“What? Did you sell your cows?!?” This was the response from my neighbor, who had stopped by several years ago after seeing my pasture covered with 2.5-foot-tall grass. “I have never seen this pasture with grass longer than a golf green in nearly 30 years; you must have sold the cows!” This is a good… Read More →
This spring, a marketing firm hired by WEC Energy Group stopped by our farm a number of times. They wanted us to sign an agreement allowing an Environmental Impact Statement to be done so that a natural gas pipeline could be laid through our front field. We worried that all the work that we had… Read More →
The threat of heavy rain did not keep a group of prospective farmers away from the Seward Neighborhood of Minneapolis this past Saturday. Stefan Meyer of Growing Lots Urban Farm hosted a Farm Beginning field day at one of Growing Lots’ urban locations, where he shared his experience with vegetable varieties, irrigation, compost, soil health… Read More →
I have never doubted my Honda Civic before. It has served me well in my work with the Land Stewardship Project and otherwise as I traverse west-central Minnesota. Last week it was tested as I drove Ann Bartuska, USDA Deputy Under Secretary for Research, Education and Economics, to a family farm in the region. Also… Read More →
Just when you think the facts and figures around federal subsidized crop insurance can’t get any more outlandish, new numbers emerge exposing the out-of-control spending and lack of accountability for this area of farm policy. Earlier this month, USDA released the most recent data on crop insurance costs. It’s ugly: the federal government anticipates doling… Read More →
